“I couldn’t believe it, the board we put him on was still there, but Supt Ted Hastings was nowhere to be seen.

“It was a real talking point in the village, nobody knows what has happened and there’s a mixture of humour and outrage that

someone could do such a thing.”

The Scarecrow festival took place earlier this month, and the now famous scarecrow went missing on the last night of the festival leaving residents at a loss as to where their Ted Hastings effigy could have gone.

The village suspects foul play, but so far there have been no leads that could pinpoint who the culprits of this crime could have been.

Susie said: “We’re not sure who it could have been, for all we know the wind could have blown away.

Susie said: “He’s probably gone undercover because of all of this publicity.”

The Wighton Scarecrow Festival runs once a year and aims to raise money for Wighton for anything the village needs. It has been running for 18 years and has paid for repairs on the village church and chapel, as well as the playing field for the children.

A representative for the festival, Suki Polson said: “Some people thought it was a publicity stunt, but on my life, the man just vanished, whether he’s gone into hiding or been kidnapped we do not know.

“A lot of people presumed because it was raining that Susie had taken him inside, but she said it had been nicked.”

Susie added: “It’s caused quite the stir in the village, with all of us wondering what could have happened.

“I think we need AC-12 to descend on Wighton and solve this case for us.”